Apparatus for loading wood logs



y 6, 1958 A. H. PAANANEN 2,833,433

APPARATUS FOR LOADING WOOD LOGS Filed Oct. 20, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet l [Wenfor Ar/ o/cZ Parana/7am May 6, 1958 A. H. PAANANEN APPARATUS FOR LOADING woon LOGS 2 Sheets-Sheet :2

Filed Oct. 20, 1953 W, Z a a P M M 6 I m x. I 1 A W IJ n in an F 5 Z w H 0 a 0 m 2 II W n n W II 2 .t 2 HUI. HHM w United States Patent APPARATUS FOR LOADING WOOD LOGS Arnold H. Paananen, Ishpeming, Mich.

Application October 20, 1953, SerialNo. 387,102

1 Claim. (Cl. 214-147) This invention is a pulp wood log loader and aims to simplify conventional log loaders, particularly by reducing the number of log grippers, without loss of any advantages of presently used loaders.

Objects of this invention are to provide a log loader especially adapted for loading pulp wood logs, in the loading cycle; to provide a log loader carried by a tractor and hydraulically operated in a conventional manner, the grippers being operated by a single hydraulic element strategically positioned, with respect to the grippers, for expeditious and effective operation; and to provide a novel method of loading logs wherein a plurality of piled logs are gripped near the ends of the logs nearest the loader to initially effect elevations of said ends to a certain height, when the grippers are hoisted, at which point the said ends are intercepted permitting the opposite ends of the logs to swing upwardly to the desired elevation.

I have found after much experiment a loader constructed and operated in accordance with the teaching of this invention reduces the cost of the machine and the cost of operation yet speeds up loading and obtains better over-all results. This is due, in part at least, to the fact that where multiple pairs of grippers are used as shown in the patent to Drott et al., No. 2,488,767, November 22, 1949, the grip on opposite sides of the logs is frequently uneven which results in tangling making loading difiicult and time-consuming. l have found that with multiple pairs of grippers the front grippers will engage certain logs and, due to uneven log piling and sometimes other factors, the rear grippers engage a different set of logs which slows down the loading operation. Using a single pair of grippers with an abutment bar for the aft ends of the logs, as herein taught, has been found to overcome the above-referred to deficiencies. The invention, together with its objects and advantages, will be best understood by reading the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawing in which is illustrated a presently preferred embodiment of the invention, and wherein:

Fig. l is a side elevational view of an apparatus for loading logs illustrating its application;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a front elevational view of the gripper unit of the hoist apparatus, and

Fig. 4 is a detail fragmentary perspective view of a portion of the hoist showing to advantage the abutment bar and the locus of attachment to the gripper unit of the hoist.

In order to illustrate the application of this invention,

2,833,433 Patented May 6, 1958 I have in Figs. 1 and 2 shown in dotted lines a portion of a tractor 5 to which the log hoist of the present invention is adapted to be engaged in any suitable manner.

The log hoist apparatus of this invention includes a frame 6, the aft end of which is pivotally connected, as indicated at 7, to vertical bracket 8 which rise upwardly from a fixed part of the tractor 5, to which part the lower ends of the brackets are anchored as indicated at 9 and shown to advantage in Fig. 1. The fore end of the hoist frame 6 includes a gripper unit generally designated 10 which will presently be described in detail. The frame 6 also includes fore and aft ribs 11 and 12, respectively. The aft ribs have their rear ends fixedly secured to the sides of the frames 6 in any suitable manner. The front ends of the fore ribs 11 are fixedly secured, as shown to advantage in Fig. 4, to the gripper unit 10. The proximate ends of the ribs 11 and 12 are connected, as indicated at 13, on a shaft 14 which extends transversely across the frame as shown to advantage in Fig. 2. The frame 6 is raised and lowered by suitable hydraulic mechanism which in the present instance is shown to consist of a pair of double acting hydraulic cylinders 15 which are in communication with a pump through hoses 16. The cylinders are pivotally mounted, as indicated at 17, on the tractor, the piston rods 18 of the cylinders having their outer ends pivotally engaged to the shaft 14. When it is desired to raise or lower the hoist, the pistons in the cylinders are operated by valve controlled fluid pressure through the hoses 16 in a manner well known in the art.

The gripper unit 10 comprises a tongue 18 which extends forwardly from the sides of the frame 6 in a plane lower than said sides and is fixedly secured to the latter by a depending bracket 19, as advantageously shown in Figs. 1 and 4. A pair of parallelly arranged lugs or ears 20 extend laterally from the opposite sides of the tongue 18, one pair of the lugs being in proximity to the bracket 19, the opposite pair being located at the outer end of the tongue. The lugs are adapted for the reception of rods 21 parallelly arranged on opposite sides of the tongue 18, as also shown to advantage in Figs. 1 and 4. The rods are journalled in said lugs and have fixedly secured thereto the gripper tines 22 of the gripper unit. The root of each tinemerges into a reinforcing skirt portion 23 secured to the rods 21 within the confines of the lugs 20. The upper outer surface of each time 22 is enlarged to provide a plate 24 to which is engaged the lower end of a hoist arm 25. The upper ends of said arms, as shown to advantage in Fig. 4, are in pivotal connection with a'double acting hydraulic cylinder 26. The lower end of the cylinder is mounted on the top of the tongue 18, near the forward end of the latter, as indicated at 27. The cylinder piston rod, designated 28, has its free end connected to the arms 25. The cylinder 26 is in communication, through hoses 29, with a valve-controlled hydraulic pump.

The hoist unit 10 further includes an abutment bar 30 which may consist of an angle iron, as shown advantageously in Figs. 1 and 4. The abutment bar 3 0 is secured to the underface of the tongue 13 and to the forward edge of the bracket 19. The abutment bar also serves as a gauge to determine the point at which the uppermost of the logs will be gripped by the tines 22. In other words, as shown by dotted lines in Fig. 1, the tractor is moved toward the piled logs until the vertical portion of the abutment bar is engaged. During this part of the operation the tines 22 are of course completely open. As soon as there is contact between the uppermost logs and the abutment bar the tines are closed. It will also be noted from the dotted lines in Fig. 1 that the upper surfaces of the aft terminals of the logs are engaged by the horizontal portion of the abutment bar to prevent upward movement of the aft ends of the logs beyond the abutment bar. it is unimportant that some of the lower logs are slightly ofiset longitudinally either fore er aft, as shown by the dotted and full lines of Fig. 1. It is important however that the aft end faces of the upper layer of logs in the pile being loaded be brought into the same vertical plane by the action of the vertical leg of the abutment bar, so that they will lie beneath the horizontal leg of the bar, be kept from tilting upwardly during the hoisting movement and also keep the logs beneath the upper layer from tilting upwardly when gripped. When the tines are forced into engagement with the logs there Will be no relative movement of the logs gripped. The movement of the frame 6 upwardly into the dotted line position shown in Fig. 1 is etfected, when the tines are closed on the logs, by operation of the pump which controls the hydraulic cylinders 15. When the desired elevation of the logs has been attained they may be loaded into a truck or other vehicle for transportation in a manner well known in the art.

Various changes may be made in the invention within the scope of the claim hereto appended.

What I claim is:

A log loader for attachment to a vehicle, including a boom pivotally connected at one end to the vehicle, a gripper frame fixedly connected to the free end of said boom, gripper members connected to, and movable with, said gripper frame, said gripper members being engageable with a plurality of piled logs at a point near one end of the logs, hoist arms engaged at one end With said gripper members intermediate their lengths, hydraulic means comprising a cylinder and piston mounted on said frame, the free terminals of said hoist arms being pivotally connected to the outer end of said piston for opening and closing said gripper members, a right angle abutment bar mounted on said boom adjacent said gripper members, one angle portion of the abutment bar being engageable with the terminals of the uppermost of the piled logs to automatically determine the locus of engagement of the gripper members with the logs and to limit the extent of movement of the logs in the direction of the vehicle when the logs are elevated, the other angle portion of the abutment bar engaging the upper surfaces of the aft terminals of the logs to limit the extent of upward movement of said terminals, and hydraulic mean connected to said boom for elevating the boom, gripper frame and gripper members in a vertical are about the point of the booms pivotal connection with the vehicle, thereby inclining the logs at an angle to the horizontal.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,327,015 Carlson Aug. 17, 1943 2,488,767 Drott et al. Nov. 22, 1949 2,613,831 Rees Oct. 14, 1952 2,656,059 Troyer Oct. 20, 1953 2,694,595 Garris Nov. 16, 1954 

